Oil Prices Oscillate Near $97 Per Barrel As Traders Look At United States Supplies
Oil prices oscillated around $97 per barrel in Asia on Tuesday between concerns amongst traders about the United States crude supplies that they will continue to increase due to lack of solid demand.
The contract of benchmark crude for March delivery dropped by 6 cents, to settle at a value of $96.86 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange, during electronic trading, around late afternoon Singapore time. The same contract dropped by 93 cents yesterday, to settle at a value of $96.91.
On the other hand, in London, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent crude dropped by 15 cents, to settle at a value of $115.78 per barrel.
According to Platts, McGraw-Hill Cos’s energy information arm, crude inventories increased by almost 2.3 million barrels in the week that passed. Later on Tuesday, the weekly supply data will be released by American Petroleum Institute whereas figures by the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration will be reported on Wednesday.
In the last three weeks, crude supplies in the United States have increased at an important delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma due to a mild winter season this time in America.
Oil prices have also been affected by tensions between Iran and Western powers and also on concerns of traders about the Greek nation. The factor determining oil prices this week will be the news coming from the indebted Greek nation but till tomorrow, oil prices will fluctuate and move in accordance to the data that is due to be revealed later today and tomorrow by the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Department.
During other energy trading, heating oil increased by 1.4 cents, to settle at a value of $3.19 per gallon, while futures of gasoline dropped by 0.2 cents, to settle at a value of $2.93 a gallon. Moreover, natural gas increased by 1 cent, to settle at a value of $2.56 per 1000 cubic feet.
